A Bishop's Welcome

Episcopalians Celebrate Ordination Of Ohio Priest Who'll Later Lead Diocese

September 06, 1997|By DAVE SCHLECK Daily Press

It's the largest Episcopal service in this area in more than two decades.

At least 3,000 Episcopalians will be at Hampton University's Convocation Center today, including a 150-member choir, 16 bishops and about 150 priests and deacons.

Pat Wilson is in charge of feeding all of them.

``With lots of prayers, it will come off without a hitch,'' said Wilson, a member of Old Donation Episcopal Church in Virginia Beach. ``And if it doesn't, I'll be drummed out of town.''

As chairwoman of the altar guild of diocese, Wilson's job is to make sure every baptized person at the consecration ceremony receives the consecrated bread and wine of Holy Eucharist.

She's one of about 40 lay and ordained Episcopalians who have spent the past four months organizing the elaborate consecration service. Hundreds more have donated money and materials to the effort.

Episcopalians have traveled from across Virginia and beyond to participate in the consecration of the Rev. David Bane, an Ohio priest who will eventually become the next bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Southern Virginia.

Today's consecration is the culmination of more a year and a half of work that went into finding the diocese's next leader.

It's been 21 years since a bishop was ordained within the Diocese of Southern Virginia, which includes 35,000 Episcopalians in an area from Hampton Roads west to Danville.

In February 1996, a diocesan search committee started looking for a replacement for the current bishop, the Rt. Rev. Frank Vest, who had announced his plan to retire in the year 2000 or later.

Bane was elected from among six nominees at a representative council of Episcopal clergy and laity in April.

In a faith known for its formal processions and traditional liturgies, organizing an Episcopal bishop's consecration has been quite an undertaking for many local parishioners.

Alexander Grice, a member of St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Norfolk, is in charge of making sure the ceremony starts on time and proceeds in good order.

Communicating with hand radios, Grice and three other coordinators will organize a procession numbering in the hundreds.

``A lot of people are getting real excited about this event,'' he said. ``It isn't something that happens every day. It's one that pulls the diocese together.''

First in the procession, church members from all 124 parishes in the diocese will carry in banners from their respective congregations. Second, 150 choir members from churches across the diocese will walk in.

``They'll be wearing vestments from their own parishes, so we ought to have a rainbow of color,'' Grice said.

After the clergy members from the diocese walk in, Grice will lead a final group called the ``altar party,'' which is made up of the bishops and the people who are directly involved in carrying out the ceremony. The local Lutheran and Roman Catholic bishops will be guests at the service.

``I will be serving as the verger,'' said Grice, who will wear a black cape and carry a staff. ``The verger is the person who is the protector of the procession and the master of ceremonies.''

The use of the staff dates back to when church processions for weddings and funerals moved through crowded village squares, Grice said.

``You would use the staff to work your way through the crowd and sort of nudge people out of the way,'' Grice said.

Normally, during a bishop's consecration ceremony, the last person in the procession is the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church - in the case, the Most Rev. Edmond Browning. But Browning is unable to attend today's ceremony because of scheduling conflicts.

The Rt. Rev. Herbert Thompson - bishop of Bane's home diocese of Southern Ohio - will lead the consecration.

Toward the beginning of the ceremony, Bane will take an oath, promising to ``solemnly engage to conform to the doctrine, discipline, and worship of The Episcopal Church.''

Later, during the climax of the ceremony, three bishops will lay their hands on Bane's head and ask the Holy Spirit to give Bane the same ministerial authority that Jesus gave the apostles.

The ``laying of hands,'' as the ritual is known, gives bishops the authority to ordain priests and deacons and supervise the clergy within the diocese.

Aside from the authority of a bishop, Bane will also receive several gifts that recognize his new title: a Bible, a Book of Common Prayer, a cross, anointing oil, a triangular hat called a mitre, a hooked staff called a crozier, and a ring engraved with the seal of the Episcopal Church.

Vernon Wilson, a jewelry designer who attends St. Andrew's Episcopal Church in Newport News, designed and crafted the bishop's ring.

``All the gold in the piece was donated by different people throughout the dioceses of Southern Ohio and Southern Virginia,'' Wilson said. ``They sent us gold from weddings rings, engagement rings and old chains. They obviously think very highly of him.''